)O( August was full of huge shifts!!! )O(

I apologize for missing out on posting in the month of August.  Traditionally, August is the most difficult month of the year for me, and often comes with extreme natural and sociopolitical disasters.  I have learned that if I do not make hard and fast plans, I can sail through the treacherous waters of this time of year rather well. This approach worked for me again, this time.  However, the natural disasters still happened, and the sociopolitical upheavals did also.   Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans about 8 hours later than Katrina did back in 2005.  My birthday is August 28th, Hurricane Day.  The European Council has removed the United States from the nonessential travel list, so we are very blessed to have made it to the Netherlands before they shut that window.    I am reeling physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Everything here is better and different than back in the United States.  The water from the taps is clean enough to enjoy as a beverage. The showers do not damage my hair or dry out my skin.  There are far less fatal accidents in traffic.  The public transportation system is extremely effective.  The elementary school age children laugh and play in the streets without a care in the world.  Teenagers crowd together in diverse clusters, Muslims, Hindus, Atheists, Christians, Jews, Refugees, and Rich Kids all just lumped into a pile of exuberant, youthful togetherness.  Women walk to and from places of interest, alone, at any time of day or night.  I can wear my headphones walking down a dark alley and it's not even weird.  It's hard to handle, to be perfectly honest.

Finding a job and a place to live isn't easy, but I am not giving up.  I've refreshed my various resumes and have a few leads on where to look.  In the meantime, we are living in a Chinese Hotel just outside the city's center.  It's not fancy, but it's cute and adequate for our purposes.  I really miss having a kitchen.  I also miss my friends.  But I know that the future holds some really beautiful things for us if we can just push through this transition and land in our new living space.    I also wrote a formal letter to the president of the Universalist Unitarian church, asking advice on how to proceed as a Priestess in my new country.  I am very much looking forward to updating you all on that outcome, as well as returning to my discussion of majik and the occult here on Patreon.  Thank you so, so, so much for just hanging in there with me and waiting to see what unfolds.  This core group of readers will always be regarded as my Founding Members, and the benefits of that will grow as the page ages!!!  Love you!!!!